The two companies made the announcement at a press conference attended by Hamburg’s Economics Minister Frank Horch, Schleswig-Holstein’s Economics Minister Reinhard Meyer, and Uli Wachholtz, President of UVNord (the Confederation of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein Industry Associations).

The organisations affirmed that from now on they will work together for further development of wind energy fairs, as partners with equal rights. “We are delighted at the solution which has now been found,” said Peter Becker and Bernd Aufderheide in a joint declaration.

The German Wind Industry Association (BWE) added its support for the agreement reached between Husum and Hamburg. “We represent about 20,000 members, who are active in different markets and therefore have different expectations for a wind energy trade fair,” said BWE President Sylvia Pilarsky-Grosch. “The joint concept combines the tradition and atmosphere of Husum, which is important for the German market, and the benefits of Hamburg, which are expected by international exhibitors.”

The wind industry is a major economic factor for Schleswig-Holstein. It accounted directly for 6,830 jobs here in 2011, and many local authorities and private individuals benefit directly from community-owned wind farms and local power grids. New space allocation and repowering projects will give Schleswig-Holstein benefits worth about EUR 10 billion in this decade according to estimates by the Global Wind Energy Council.